Year of release
2015
Directed by
Tom Hooper
Written by
Lucinda Coxon
David Ebershoff (novel)
Starring
Eddie Redmayne
Alicia Vikander
Matthias Schoenaerts
Ben Whishaw
Amber Heard
Sebastian Koch
The Danish Girl
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What a complete hash of things Tom Hooper makes of this film. A prime opportunity lands in his lap and he largely squanders it. Not only does he have a great story to work with but thanks in no small part to the Caitlyn Jenner effect, awareness of transgender individuals and issues has never been higher. There's arguably never been a better time to tell this story. So what a shame that it comes up so far short of what it could have been.
Now don't get me wrong, in many ways this is actually a really nice film, beautiful even. For pretty much the first time in my life however I don't see that as being overly positive; if anything it's a negative because Hooper has sanitised
The Danish Girl to within an inch of its life. It's all picture postcard locations, glossy cinematography and what felt like a constant assault of gentle piano music as the backdrop for every scene to tell you that what we're watching is beautiful and emotional. Yes there is some beauty to be found in the story, primarily in the relationship between Eddie Redmayne's Einar (later Lili) and Alicia Vikander's Gerda, but surely there should also be a sizeable degree of edge and darkness to reflect the emotional torture that Einar is suffering and the prejudice he faces. But everything is just so damn pleasant! The story feels like it was ripe to deliver a really powerful examination of transgender issues and what it must feel like to be born in the wrong body. But there's no real sign of that. Instead Hooper has taken it down the direction of a period costume drama. It's so sterilised that I felt it robbed the story of most of its potential emotion and power.
While the tone is probably my largest gripe I think the film also suffers from some problems in the scripting and storytelling department that limited the emotional connection with the characters and the material. The main issue being that Einar/Lili doesn't really feel like much of a character. The only defining characteristic he/she really appears to have is that of gender. Beyond that there isn't really a great deal to him/her. The realisation about his true self also strikes Einar very early on in the proceedings, meaning that we don't really get to know him to any degree before he begins to disappear under the influence of Lili. As a result I don't feel any great connection was made with Einar to the point where we engaged with his predicament.
If the film does have a saving grace then it's to be found in the performances of its leading man and lady, well one of them at least, with the other I have some slight reservations. Taking on the challenging role of Einar/Lili is Eddie Redmayne who is looking to scoop the Best Actor Oscar for the second year in a row. Truthfully I'm a little unsure what to make of his performance. I think that on a technical level it is excellent; his looks, mannerisms, the way he carried himself etc are all very impressive. However I don't feel that his performance engaged me as much as it should have. I found that their was something a bit robotic and clinical about him. It's actually a similar reaction to the one I had with
The Theory of Everything last year. In terms of mimicking Stephen Hawking and capturing the mechanics of someone suffering from motor neurone disease I found it quite extraordinary. But for whatever reason it didn't make me feel to the extent of Benedict Cumberbatch in
The Imitation Game for example. Instead the star performance in my eyes lies with Alicia Vikander who takes on the role of Einar's wife, Gerda. I thought she was rather terrific. To begin with she is this beguiling, vivacious free spirit. As the truth about her husband dawns on her however this incredible strength and grace comes to the fore. She is fantastic.
I think the potential was there for
The Danish Girl to be a great film but in my eyes it missed by a fair margin. I mentioned earlier how there has arguably never been a better time to tell this story, but perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps the increased exposure of such issues convinced the filmmakers to make a glossy, attractively stylised film to be more palatable for its increased audience. Or maybe Hooper just decided to play safe and aim for Oscar glory rather than to try and tell a story of real boldness and substance. Either way it's a disappointment. The dialogue, the direction, the score, the cinematography, the aesthetic; it's just all so precious and trite. A huge missed opportunity.